Conventional explosives present many hazards to both military personnel and civilians from the time they are manufactured until the initiation of operations. The ammunition factory, the trucks or trains transporting the explosives from the factory to the seaport or airport of debarkation, the airplanes or ships that are used to transport munitions overseas, the ground transportation used to move the ammunition from the port of arrival to overseas military bases, and the ammunition dumps in the destination country, are all points of vulnerability that can lead to potential disaster.
Ever since gunpowder has been employed in warfare, experience has repeatedly shown the hazard to armed forces of their own ammunition, with notable incidents ranging from the explosion of the Venetian magazine on the Acropolis during the 17th century Turkish siege of Athens, the loss of some 1000 American sailors when a string of ammunition ships exploded off Hawaii in 1944, to the detonation of a US ammo dump in Baghdad in May 2003. This danger is particularly great under conditions such as the current period of unsymmetrical warfare, where an enemy whose limited firepower provides a strong incentive to use an armed forces' own weapons against them. For instance, by hitting an ammunition dump, a terrorist can destroy a military base or a town.
Further, throughout history, numerous major warships, such as the HMS Hood, have been lost in combat when a single hit ignited their magazines, and land-based artillery batteries and bombers in flight have been destroyed in similar fashion.
Moreover, one of the major hazards of modern warfare is the large amount of unexploded bombs, mines, and other ordnance that litter the war zone after conflict is over. The elimination of such unexploded weapons is an extremely dangerous and expensive task.
Hence, as recognized by the present inventor, what is needed is an explosive device that is not explosive during storage or prior to deployment, and is explosive during deployment or use. It is against this background that various embodiments of the present invention have been developed.